


Collaboration

by blasted0glass



Category: Magic: The Gathering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-16 07:27:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18686869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blasted0glass/pseuds/blasted0glass
Summary: A story about losing a card game.





	Collaboration

**Author's Note:**

> This story was an entry for the r/rational biweekly rationalist writing challenge: Self-Destruction.

“I shouldn't attack with everything. You might have some sort of counter,” said Joan.

“I might, but the chances are low.” I revealed the size of my hand: only two cards left. “Even if I did have one, there isn't much in this draft that you have to fear. You'll be alright for at least a turn, so you might as well attempt to finish me off right now.”

“...incredible,” she said. “I can't tell whether you're trying to trick me or not. Are you going easy on me because I'm new here?”

“Not at all,” I said.

“I've played Magic before.”

“I know.”

“But why would you tell me how to defeat you?”

“You asked, I answered. I just want to have fun with friends. Winning feels good, but I won't sabotage someone just for that. Lying to win is contrary to my long term goals.”

“Oh really.”

“Yes. I just... I think it’s better if everyone gets more skilled, together.” She didn't seem convinced so I elaborated. “I mean, right now we're just playing this one game. If I lie to you about this, how can we have honest discussions about anything in the future? What will our gaming club be like if winning is more important than discussing things openly and honestly?”

“Huh.” She apparently still didn't trust my advice. I had only met her earlier today, so it wasn't really that surprising.

“Well, even if you think Mike's a liar, I'll tell you it's a good idea to kill him now,” said Peter. He was watching our match. Joan had come to our gaming club at Peter's invitation. “Why would you ask him for advice in the first place if you weren't going to listen?”

“I wanted to see his reaction. If he told me what to do, I was going to do something else.”

“Ah, that is kind of clever,” said Peter. “But you really think he's outmaneuvering you?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I wouldn't worry. He's always like this. Doesn't really matter what game we're playing.” When no one said anything he continued. “If Mike says that attacking him recklessly is your best option, it probably really is.”

“That's stupid,” she said. I felt myself frowning.

“It depends on what you want to accomplish.”

“Well, I'm hitting you with everything, and I'm using Lightning Bolt.” She turned the cards on the table sideways to signify she had used them. I carefully set down my hand, face up.

“My life points drop below zero. I lose,” I said. She started to shake her head and then she saw my hand.

“Hey! If I had hesitated, you could have summoned Angelic Arbiter next turn,” she pointed at the card, “and I would have struggled to defeat you after that. You definitely could have won.”

I chuckled and drew a card from my deck without looking at it. “If only I'd drawn this card, I'd definitely have won then!”

“That's a land.”

“Oh, so it is. But what I'm saying is, events that didn't happen have less bearing on what actually happened than we'd like to think.”

“Hmm. You're not very competitive.”

“Oh no, I'm very competitive. Maybe even too competitive. I don't think that losing once-in-a-while is bad for that particular problem, though.” I paused for a moment. “Would you want to play chess while we wait for the other matches to finish?”

“I'm terrible at chess.”

“It's one of my favorite games.”

“No thanks,” she said. I shrugged.

“Just offering. Well, while we wait we could have an unofficial rematch.” I started shuffling my deck. I was somewhat irritated about being eliminated from the tournament, but not as irritated as I could have been.

“Are you going to purposely lose this one as well?” She had started shuffling her cards almost as soon as I had.

“Hey now. I didn't lose on purpose.”

“It kind of looks like you did.” I didn't respond. “But I believe you.”

“Then you can see why answering questions truthfully is so important.”

Joan laughed. She kept returning to our gaming club after that.


End file.
